Wild Apes for Sale

From Grains of Golden Sand:

"Almost as a lark to see if I could, I decided to befriend the marketers to try to unravel the inner workings of the parrot and primate trade. I offered them my veterinary expertise. Deeply suspicious, they wanted to know my purpose and motive for providing care. I explained that treating their animals gave me experience for taking care of those at the institute. From 1987 through 1990, I gradually gained their trust. Eventually, the comerçants tolerated my presence, and four became helpers and informants."

From 1990, until I left the country in 1998, I was able to take photographs (or my informants took them for me) of the main animal market in downtown Kinshasa. I nearly always used a Polaroid camera. This was done so I could give the people photographs of themselves.

The upper left photo shows a baby chimp (#4072) that was treated and its seller was interviewed. The upper right photo shows a buyer purchasing the bottom two animals -- a chimp on the left and a bonobo on the right. I never saw those animals, but they appeared to be thin, and too small to survive.

At the time these photographs were taken, the possession or sell of a "protected" species was not illegal, as long as the sellers possessed an ownership paper, which was merely a tax formality. In 1990, Jane Goodall put pressure on the government to confiscate apes found on the open market, but this was overturned with the civil unrest in 1991.

While monitoring the animal market, I supplied information to Traffic international, for those animals that I suspected were leaving the country, as this was regulated by international CITES treaty. I found out years later that a tip on I gave led to the confiscation of two chimps by officials in Nairobi.